Its no secret; Australia is a country infested with things that will kill you. Or as humorist and Australiaphile Bill Bryson put it, "If you are not stung or pronged to death in some unexpected manner, you may be fatally chomped by sharks or crocodiles."

In addition to what we're learning about predators, Palmyra Atoll is shedding new light on the effects of climate change. The atoll's corals appear to be more resilient to bleaching events and ocean acidification than corals around developed areas. The research is encouraging.

The Great Barrier Reef is not really a barrier at all. The huge formation is composed of millions of small reef pieces, corals, stones, holes, caves, recesses, canyons, all covered in multicolor algae, inhabited by the weirdest fish ever, some small, some large, even gigantic.

A bull shark emptied Australia's Bondi Beach of people for nearly two hours on Friday, and had its 15 minutes of fame. But by Saturday, it had all but been forgotten in favor of a different breed of shark.

2014 was full of Hollywood stars behaving oddly (See Shia LaBeouf and Amanda Bynes) and loads of fake viral videos. But this year saw fabrication with dead-serious ripple effects as well. Here are the prevaricators who rose to the top of the LieSpotting list this year:

As humans, we're extremely visual creatures, so as you look upon the joyous gathering of friends and family prior to feasting, consider taking a moment to give thanks for your healthy eyesight as well.

It should seem that sharks are used to bad news by now. So perhaps there's no better a time than now for some good cheer. Indeed, a recent study from Brazil suggests promise in a humane, non-lethal, and impressively successful method to keep beaches clean of attacks -- without putting a bullet in anyone's brain.

Every 10 seconds, non-stop, for a couple months, sonic explosions at 252 decibels will shatter eardrums of all sea creatures. Each month, the equivalent of 241,920 grenades will carpet-bomb the western Atlantic Ocean, minus any shrapnel.

We have many concerns regarding the TPP, including the weakening of environmental and labor standards. We have even greater concerns about the lack of transparency regarding the TPP discussions that are underway -- so much so, that we are relying on leaks to get any information.

In truth, once you look past how they're portrayed in Jaws or Sharknado, there are many lessons we can take from the way sharks live, survive and adapt that can be applied to our everyday lives to keep us physically and emotionally fit.